Posts Tagged ‘puff pastry’

The challenge for Week 37 of Reddit’s 52 Weeks of Baking is European. I’ve always wanted to try baking Brie in a puff pastry with jam inside so that’s what I did. Not sure how authentic this recipe is but the Brie at least is undeniably European. I followed Rachel Ray’s recipe for the most part. I used cranberry pepper jelly and skipped the nuts. I baked for ten minutes longer than her instructions suggested but the puff pasty still didn’t brown as much as I would have liked.

This recipe is really easy, looks pretty, and tastes good but I think I prefer to skip the puff pastry part and just eat hot, melty Brie on crackers or apple slices with jelly.

Sadly, my love for chicken pot pie delayed my entrance into vegetarianism by several years. I’m not particularly proud of that I just want to illustrate how strong my feelings are for pot pie. I’ve been making this version for a few years now and I think it’s way better than the chicken variety. I bring this to Thanksgiving as the main affair for me and Robbie. I couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving so I made it last Thursday for a fancy dinner with a friend.

I use this recipe with some vegetable additions (celery and green onion this time) and either a store-bought pie crust or puff pastry. I’ve put the filling inside a pie crust and flipped another one out on top before. The advantage of doing it that way is that it holds together better making it more pie-like. Two pie crusts is a little decadent considering there’s already a potato in there so this time I used one sheet of puff pastry to cover the top. I pushed down around the edges to seal it to the glass pie dish then brushed some melted Earth Balance on it.

The gravy in this recipe is ridiculously good. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. We wiped out 7/8 of the pie (and the leftover filling that wouldn’t fit inside) between the three of us. I had the the last piece for lunch the next day and it might have been even more delicious than the day before.

Week 33 of Reddit’s 52 Weeks of Baking challenge is vegetables. I’ve been wanting to make some kind of savory tart so this was the perfect excuse. I looked at a ton of recipes for vegetable tarts using puff pastry and borrowed from the better looking ones. Most featured just goat cheese and tomatoes or just goat cheese and asparagus but I wanted to maximize my vegetables for this challenge so I used yellow onion, garlic, tomatoes, and asparagus.

1. About thirty minutes before you plan to start building your tart, take one sheet of puff pastry from the freezer and lay it on the counter to thaw. As it started to thaw I was able to unfold it without breaking it. I made the tart on parchment paper on a baking sheet and slid the whole thing in the oven when it was ready.

2. While you’re waiting for the puff pastry to thaw you can prepare the vegetables by washing and cutting them. Take the goat cheese out of the refrigerator to get it to room temperature.

3. When the puff pastry is malleable, use some flour and a rolling pin to roll it out a little larger and flatter. The better recipes I looked at said to score a border around the edge of the puff pastry so that it will become puffier while baking and make more of a crust edge. I did that and also stuck the inside of the border with a fork several times. It seemed to really help with making a crusty edge.

4. Spread the goat cheese to cover the inside of the scored border.

5. Dredge the thin tomato slices in a plate of balsamic vinegar then arrange them on the goat cheese part of the tart. Next place the onion slices and then arrange the asparagus spears. Drop small chunks of minced garlic throughout the tart.

6. Preheat the oven to 385 degrees. Drizzle olive oil then balsamic vinegar over the goat cheese portion of the tart leaving the crust untouched. Grind sea salt and pepper over the same area. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is fluffy and slightly browned and the vegetables look cooked.

How pretty is that tart?

Robbie cut it for us with the pizza cutter into quarters. We ate the tart with a big salad and were quite full. I, personally, can eat an unlimited amount of goat cheese, but this is probably better cut into more pieces for an appetizer for 4 or more people. I will definitely be making this and probably similar variations again. Robbie and I thought it was delicious and were impressed with its classy appearance as well. I don’t know why but it just looks so fancy to me!

Week 22 of Reddit’s 52 Weeks of Baking Challenge is pastry. For this challenge, I made a favorite Cuban treat: pastelitos de guayaba y queso (small guava paste and cream cheese pastries). These were extremely easy to make and very good. I tried out some different shapes with the dough and the turnover/triangle shape seemed to work out the best. Most of the authentic pastelitos I’ve eaten have been triangular so this is probably already common knowledge. If you like these and don’t live near a Cuban bakery, I really recommend trying this recipe. With the Goya guava paste, simple syrup glaze, and flaky dough they’re pretty true to the traditional pastry. A word of warning: these are a high-sugar, “dessert crack” kind of food so proceed with caution.

Yields 18 small pastries.

Ingredients

1 box of Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Sheets
1 can of Goya Guava Paste (I bought the big one and only used half of it here.)
1 8 oz package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I used the fat-free kind. You can easily make this recipe vegan by using Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese.)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Take the puff pastry sheets out of the freezer. Open the package and break the two sheets apart. Lay them on a plate to thaw about 40 minutes before you plan to start making the pastelitos.

2. Make the simple syrup glaze by putting the sugar and water in a pot and boiling it until the sugar is completely dissolved. Take it off the heat and let it cool until the pastelitos are assembled.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut 18 one inch squares of the guava paste and cream cheese.

4. Unfold the pastry sheets. Cut each sheet into nine even squares. Place a square of guava paste towards the bottom of each pastry sheet square. Top the guava paste with a piece of cream cheese. Fold the dough over to form a triangle (or square but triangle worked out better). Seal the edges of the dough to make an envelope with the guava paste and cream cheese completely sealed inside. You can wet your finger with a little water to help seal the dough edges.

5. Place the pastelitos on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a brush to coat the outside of the pastries with the simple syrup. Bake for 15-20 minutes. I turned my cookie sheet after about 10 minutes and baked for another 7 minutes or so after that. When the pastelitos are flaky and slightly browned on top, they are ready.